US Department of Labor to host town hall meetings in Amherst, NY, on July 13 to assist nuclear weapons workers

OWCP News Release: [07/11/2011]
Contact Name: Jesse Lawder
Phone Number: (202) 693-4659
Email Address: lawder.jesse@dol.gov
Release Number: 11-1029-NEW

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor will host two town hall meetings on Wednesday, July 13, in Amherst, N.Y., to provide former Linde Ceramics Plant and Simonds Saw and Steel Co. workers with information concerning two new classes of employees recently added to the Special Exposure Cohort of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. The department’s New York Resource Center staff also will be available at the meetings for extended periods to assist individuals with filing claims under the EEOICPA.

The EEOICPA provides compensation and medical benefits to employees who became ill as a result of working in the nuclear weapons industry. A worker who is included in a designated SEC class of employees, and who is diagnosed with one of 22 specified cancers, may receive a presumption of causation under the EEOICPA. On Jan. 6 and April 21 the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services designated the following classes of employees as an addition to the SEC: all employees who worked at Simonds Saw and Steel Co. in Lockport, N.Y., from Jan. 1, 1948, through Dec. 31, 1957, and at Linde Ceramics Plant in Tonawanda, N.Y., from Jan. 1, 1954, through Dec. 31, 1969, for at least 250 workdays occurring either solely under this employment or in combination with workdays within other classes of employees in the SEC. The new Simonds Saw and Steel Co. SEC designation became effective on Feb. 5, and the new Linde Ceramics Plant SEC designation became effective on May 21. The Labor Department’s role is to adjudicate these claims based on the new SEC class definitions as determined and introduced by HHS.

To date, $28.5 million in compensation and medical benefits has been paid to 290 eligible Linde Ceramics Plant claimants and $14.3 million has been paid to 160 eligible Simonds Saw and Steel Co. claimants, while more than $7.1 billion has been paid nationwide. For additional information about the upcoming town hall meetings or to schedule an appointment for claim-filing assistance, contact the New York Resource Center toll-free at 800-941-3943. This event is open to the public and pre-registration is not required.

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